One year ago, Thomas Fugate was graduating college.

Now, the 22-year-old former Heritage Foundation intern works for the Department of Homeland Security overseeing the prevention of hate-fueled terrorist attacks.

Fugate’s portfolio includes the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, or CP3, which is tasked with preventing extremist attacks like school shootings and other hate-fueled incidents, according to ProPublica, which published an extensive profile Wednesday on Fugate.

“Typically, people familiar with CP3 say, a candidate that green wouldn’t have gotten an interview for a junior position, much less be hired to run operations,” the outlet reported.

“According to LinkedIn, the bulk of Fugate’s leadership experience comes from having served as secretary general of a Model United Nations club.”

“Maybe he’s a wunderkind. Maybe he’s Doogie Howser … But that’s not likely the case,” an unnamed counterterrorism researcher told ProPublica in a reference to the 1990s TV show starring Neil Patrick Harris as a teen surgeon.

“It sounds like putting the intern in charge,” the researcher said.

DHS declined to answer ProPublica’s questions about Fugate but claimed the 22-year-old is overseeing CP3 as an aide in an immigration and border security office.

“Due to his success, he has been temporarily given additional leadership responsibilities in the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships office,” an official emailed to ProPublica. “This is a credit to his work ethic and success on the job.”

On social media, Fugate described himself as a “Trumplican.” He graduated last year with a bachelor’s degree in politics and law from the University of Texas at San Antonio, according to his LinkedIn profile.

From July 2024 to November 2024, Fugate worked as an advance team member on the Trump campaign.

In February, he began his job as a special assistant at Homeland Security, according to his profile.

Fugate’s appointment comes as the Trump administration guts CP3, which focused on right-wing extremist attacks when Joe Biden was president.

The office had 80 employees under Biden but now operates with less than 20 staffers, former workers told ProPublica.

Current and former national security staffers told the outlet the downsizing is “reckless” against the backdrop in a rise in extremist attacks in recent weeks, including the fatal shootings of two Israeli embassy workers and the Boulder, Colorado attack involving incendiary devices and a makeshift flamethrower against Jewish supporters of Israeli hostages in Gaza.